


Golden Tears

by fallenidol_453



Series: Harbinger [4]
Category: Dark Parables (Video Games)
Genre: Explicit Language, Fairy Tale Elements, Gen, Novelization, Video Game Mechanics
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-25
Updated: 2021-01-10
Packaged: 2021-03-10 16:34:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,176
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28320210
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fallenidol_453/pseuds/fallenidol_453
Summary: The Snow Queen case is notorious worldwide for two reasons: being a once-a-generation event, and the number of agents who have disappeared or died trying to solve it.Moira, newly hired as a permanent agent in the Fairytale Division, is just the latest person to take a stab at this case. Can she solve it, or will she end up as yet another sad statistic at the agency?[ Novelization of my play-through of Rise of the Snow Queen. ]
Series: Harbinger [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1652131
Kudos: 2





	1. Prologue Part One

**Author's Note:**

> I do not own the Dark Parables series. All rights belong to Blue Tea Games and Big Fish Games. Any mistakes to canon is entirely my fault.
> 
> These prologue chapters are a setup to tie up some loose ends I was unable to cover in the epilogues of A Leap into Eternity. I have also edited the character tag "Master Detective (Dark Parables)" and changed it to "Fairytale Detective (Dark Parables)" to better reflect what the Dark Parables wiki calls the player character.

Anne rubbed her eyes tiredly as she stared blankly at the black video screen on her computer. The computer settings had the screen brightness set too high, and no one outside of the employees who managed the computers knew how to turn it down. Not that they’d give up that priceless information anyway.

There was a knock on her closed office door. Anne looked up as one of the agents poked his head in, and she shook her head vigorously.

“I already met Cara’s baby,” she whispered fiercely. That was a lie. Good grief, didn’t he see the “Do Not Disturb” sign on her door?

The agent muttered an apology and hastily shut the door. 

Finally, the black screen changed to show a young man with blonde hair. Anne plastered a smile to her face.

“Thank you for coming, Joachim, especially on such short notice.”

The video feed lagged a little. “Y-You’re w-welcome, Anne.”

“I received your, ah, urgent email last week about the Snow Queen. Are you sure she’s struck again?”

Joachim nodded vigorously. “Children were abducted from a village in the Snowfall Kingdom. All of them. The son of one of my father—no, of one of  _ my _ contacts was among the abducted. Everything… everything is playing out exactly as it has been in previous generations.”

He took a deep breath and sagged in his chair. Joachim was new to his supervisory position in the Swiss branch of the Fairy Tale division, having succeeded his father Hans a couple of months ago. His youth stood out from the cadre of other supervisors like Anne, who usually had decades of experience under their belts before coming into their position. Anne felt a very slight twinge of pity for his inexperience.

“Did you receive my email about the map of the Snowfall Kingdom? Do you think it’s genuine?” Anne inquired.

“Ah—well, we think it’s genuine, but we only have the Polaroid photos.”

“They were necessary. There’s so much magic in the pages that our scanner would have exploded if we tried to use it.”

Joachim ran a hand through his hair. “Yes… well, okay. Due to the notoriety of this case, we must send someone experienced. Someone who can actually survive.”

Anne felt a pang of sadness in her chest and nodded in agreement. This case was a once-a-generation event, and at least two Swiss agents and three from the United Kingdom in the past had tried to go out and solve it. Four had disappeared without a trace and had never reported back. Only one agent had ended their investigation prematurely and went back to the Swiss office. They had told the supervisor at the time that some sort of monster had attacked them at the Snow Queen’s palace, and they had run away out of self-preservation. The only information they had been able to obtain was that the missing children were eventually returned alive, too frightened to speak but physically unharmed.

That had been fifty years ago.

“Do you have someone in mind who is willing to help?” Joachim pleaded. “Every agent I’ve asked on my side has flatly refused.”

“I... wish I could say yes, but the agent I could possibly ask is only here on a temporary basis. She was covering for someone on maternity leave, which ended last week,” Anne replied. “That agent was the one who discovered the map and made the connection between Snow White, the last wife of the Frog Prince, and the Snow Queen being the same woman.”

Joachim looked at Anne intently, an expression exacerbated by the video feed glitching briefly. “Are they still in the Fairy Tale division?”

“They  _ are _ , but the agent who recently returned isn’t sure about returning to field work. The three of us will be having a meeting soon to discuss available options.”

“Wonderful!” Joachim exclaimed happily.

“Joachim,  _ please _ bear in mind that I may not be able to convince them,” Anne warned. His face fell slightly. “If I can’t, then you will have to reach out to the other branches for help.”

“I completely understand! And I  _ do _ know that.” he replied. “Whether or not you’re able to convince them, could you let me know? I don’t want to make inquiries with the other branches until I get a definitive answer.”

“That can be easily arranged,” Anne said. “Now, I have to leave, but I will call sometime next week with my answer.”

Joachim nodded in understanding, and ended the video call after saying his goodbyes. Anne sagged in her chair and let out a long sigh. Would Moira agree to take on the case? Had Cara changed her mind and wanted to return to field work? This would be a terrible case to come back to, should she select a case that’s not as dangerous? But the Snow Queen case needed to be tackled as soon as it was received...

So many decisions, and not nearly enough time to make one.

&

Two days later, Cara and Moira presented themselves in Anne’s office for the meeting. It was supposed to have taken place yesterday, but Moira had unexpectedly taken the day off. Anne originally thought the reason had been family related, until she saw what happened to Moira’s face. Banged up was the politest term to describe it, with her black eye and scrapes on her forehead and cheek.

“Miss Moira, what happened to you?” Anne asked.

Moira grimaced. “Someone tried to mug me while I was jogging yesterday.”

“Are you okay?” Cara gasped.

“Mugger gave me a black eye and a few scrapes, I broke his arm,” Moira replied dismissively. “I had nothing worth stealing anyway.”

Cara looked like she wanted to say something in response, but Anne cleared her throat to get their attention. Might as well cut to the chase before the meeting got derailed.

“Miss Cara, have you given any thought about returning to field work?”

Cara tried to hide her grimace, but her reluctance was clear as day. Anne didn’t blame her; field work was risky and dangerous, with no guarantee you’d come back alive, sane, not having someone possess you, or some combination of all three. Parenthood made that harder; no one wanted to leave their family behind if they perished in the field or went missing. Anne  _ hated _ making those types of calls.

“I don’t want to do it, because I love doing fieldwork, but I’m going to have to retire from it,” Cara finally answered. “I want to see my son grow up, not… not have him wonder when I disappeared or died.”

“Or wonder how you got hurt badly enough to stay in the hospital for weeks,” Moira supplied. “You can’t chase a crawling baby around when your limbs are in casts.”

Cara gave a little huff of laughter and nodded in agreement. But when she looked at Anne again, she still looked uncertain.

“Since I want to retire, does that mean my work here is over? Do I have to return my badge?”

Anne shook her head. “You do not need to turn in your badge. You’re retiring from field work, not from the agency itself,” she said gently. “We will help you find a new position. You’d be surprised at what goes on behind the scenes, and it’s not just desk work.”

Cara relaxed and smiled a little. “I… okay.”

“Do you want Moira to succeed you in your post, or do you have someone else in mind?” Anne asked.

Cara looked at Moira. “Did you like the cases here in Fairy Tale?”

“They were… less perilous than Ravenhearst. Or Dire Grove. I didn’t have as much action or people to deal with.”

“I heard about Ravenhearst!” Cara exclaimed. “What a shame it burned to the ground, I always thought it looked so lovely in the pictures people took.”

“People dumped their trash all over the property. And there were… murders,” Moira replied awkwardly. Cara gave her an odd look. “But anyway, I liked the cases I’ve done here…”

“She’s also planning a… what was it, Miss Moira? A manual? A database?” Anne asked.

“Eh. Mix of both. It’s something for the global Fairy Tale branches to reference and add information to,” Moira stated. “It was originally meant to help the German branch with their work on the Frog Prince and his wives since they lost their records, but I’ve… expanded it, I guess, to help out everyone. After all, some cases could overlap.”

“I want to help contribute!” Cara exclaimed. She turned to Anne. “Damn nominating someone else, I want Moira to replace me.”

Anne looked at Moira. “Do you want to stay on as an agent here in Fairy Tale?”

“Of course I do.”

Without another word, Anne pulled up the relevant paperwork and printed it all off. When her ancient printer was done whining and groaning, she stapled together two thick packets and handed each one to Cara and Moira.

“Fill these out tonight and I’ll give them to the Director tomorrow. Miss Moira, do you have anything to retrieve from the Supernatural division?”

Moira shook her head. “I don’t need to grab anything, but I do want to say goodbye to my mentor and a few colleagues.”

“You can go do that once the paperwork has been finalized,” Anne stated. “Both of you are dismissed.”

Cara and Moira quickly left, shutting the door quietly. Anne contemplated sending Joachim an email, but decided against it. She didn’t want him to get his hopes up when she hadn’t even asked Moira about the Snow Queen case yet. But that would have to happen when the paperwork had been finalized, and who knows how long  _ that _ might take?

_ One thing at a time _ , Anne thought to herself.  _ One thing at a time. _


	2. Prologue Part Two

It took a week for the Director to approve both Moira and Cara's paperwork. A week too long in Anne's opinion; she felt like the matter could have been resolved in a few days. But the Director was extremely busy with what Anne personally called _bureaucratic bullshit_ , and the less she nagged him, the better.

Though, the man really did not understand that urgent meant _urgent._

And now it was time to have that second meeting with Moira… if Anne could find her. Her Skype profile listed her as being Away for the last fifty minutes, and she hadn't answered Anne's first message sent forty-five minutes earlier.

Rather than continue sitting around and waiting for a response, Anne got up from her desk and left her office. There were a couple of places Moira could be where she didn't have access to her agency workstation, and Anne hoped she might find her there and _not_ goofing off in the breakroom like most agents did when they weren't in the field.

She first ventures into the maze of cubicles that housed all of the agents in the Fairytale division. The once rancorous volume among the employees quieted instantly as Anne passed by them, and was soon replaced by the much quieter sounds of typing and whispered work-related questions. After finding Moira's cubicle empty, Anne pressed onward to the next best place she can think of.

Most of the conference rooms positioned near the cubicles are closed off. But the deeper into the hallway she goes, she begins to hear traces of laughter and conversation coming from one of the rooms.

"--w did you defeat her?"

That had to be Cara, no mistake. Anne paused just outside the open door.

"I threw a brick at her head--"

Moira's voice is temporarily cut off as Anne heard Cara choke with laughter.

"--and I opened Briar Rose's mouth and just. Dumped the potion down her throat."

" _You did not!_ " Cara exclaimed incredulously.

"It _worked!_ " Moira exclaimed back.

Anne chose that moment to walk into the room, gently knocking on the door. Cara squeaked with surprise and dropped a pen to the floor, while Moira hastily moved her feet off of the table in front of her and almost fell out of her chair.

"Ah. Uh. Hello, Anne," Moira greeted awkwardly. "I was just…"

"She was getting me up to speed on the cases she's solved…" Cara added.

Judging from the amount of papers scattered around at least two borrowed agency laptops, Anne believed them… but only a little. Skype _was_ installed on those computers.

"I see," Anne replied instead. "Miss Moira, I need to speak with you in my office." Moira began getting up from her chair and Anne held up a hand to stop her. "When you finish cleaning up here."

Moira nodded mutely. Anne left the room, and smiled as she heard the women begin cleaning up.

&

Twenty minutes later, Moira shuffled into Anne’s office. She looked nervous as she sat down across from Anne’s desk.

“Is this about my journal for the Frog Prince case?” she asked quietly. “Are you still…”

“I’m not angry anymore,” Anne replied gently. “You rewrote the log to update it with the missing information on Snow White that you originally omitted. Yes, you made a mistake, but you fixed it. That’s not the purpose of this meeting today.”

She watched the tension leave Moira’s shoulders.

“Then… what’s going on? Is there a new case?” Moira asked.

Anne took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. “Yes. But this case is substantially different from the previous two, and it’s a great deal more dangerous. I do not want to assign you to it unless you explicitly tell me you want to do it.”

“How dangerous are we talking? How different is it?” Moira inquired. She leaned forward in her chair.

“Do you remember the map you gave me after the Frog Prince case? The one I made such a huge fuss about?”

“Yes.”

“The Snowfall Kingdom is the domain of the Snow Queen, and she’s struck again.”

Moira looked confused. “What do you mean, _struck again_?”

“Once a generation, the Snow Queen kidnaps all of the children from a random village in the Snowfall Kingdom. This has gone on for centuries, and no one has been able to figure out why she does it,” Anne explained. “Many, _many_ agents have tried to solve this case, but they either go missing or turn up dead. The most recent information we’ve been able to obtain is that all of the children are eventually returned, physically unharmed but too terrified to speak of their experiences.”

“How recent is this information?”

“Fifty years,” Anne replied tartly. “There’s also some sort of unknown monster guarding the palace the Snow Queen lives in.”

“Good _grief_. Something must have happened to Snow White after she left Prince James,” Moira commented. “Maybe she turned evil?”

“It’s… a possibility,” Anne remarked. “But we truly don’t know.”

“What kind of monster guards the palace?” Moira asked.

Anne shrugged. “The agent who encountered it failed to leave a good description as they fled for their life.”

“Well, shit. That’s not very helpful at all.”

Anne nodded in agreement. “As for what makes this case different from your previous ones… I’ve had to be careful about the ones I sent you out on when you were here temporarily--”

“I noticed. I only encountered ghosts, or people who… died,” Moira interrupted. “Briar Rose was probably the only living person I encountered after I woke her up.”

“I did that on purpose,” Anne admitted. “Cara _was_ the primary agent for those particular fairytale realms, and word… spreads, when you solve something. I didn’t want the inhabitants getting confused over why there were two agents running around solving things.”

“That’s… fair. Very fair.”

“If you decide to take this case, you’re probably going to be encountering a lot more people,” Anne warned. “They will know your face, and sooner or later they’re going to tell everyone what you’ve done, and that attracts attention from both allies and enemies.”

Moira sat up straighter. “Will they know my name?”

“No. They will only call you Detective. It’s easier for them, and safer for you.”

“Safer…?”

“Do you want an evil witch to know your name? Names have power, Miss Moira. If someone evil knows it, who _knows_ what might happen when you cross paths?” Anne remarked. “Being possessed or controlled is the least of your worries there. Never give your name to anyone in the fairytale realms, unless you trust them utterly.”

Moira looked concerned, but she eventually nodded. She now knew why Briar Rose had called her _Detective_ when she first woke up from her slumber.

“Do you want to take this case?” Anne asked.

“It doesn’t sound as dangerous as my Ravenhearst cases, or even the one I tackled in Dire Grove,” Moira replied. “I think I can handle it. I may not have been initially prepared for the dangers in Ravenhearst, but I adapted and overcame them.”

“There is a very real possibility that you could die trying to solve this case, no matter how prepared or adaptable you are,” Anne argued. “Put your arrogance aside for a moment. If you die, or go missing, we will not know what happened to you. No one will be able to come rescue you. Do you want to put your loved ones through that?”

Moira didn’t reply. She sat back in her chair, deep in thought. After five minutes, she spoke up.

“I want to take this case. I understand the dangers.”

Anne sighed and closed her eyes. She was already dreading not seeing Moira come back and adding her picture to the wall of agents missing in action, or worse, the section of deceased agents. But she forced herself to open her eyes, and nod sagely.

“All right. We will begin making arrangements for you to leave as soon as possible. I will call you tomorrow morning with further instructions,” she stated. “There’s no need to leave right now though. Finish your work day, then go home and start packing.”

Moira stood up from her chair. “Do I need to come in tomorrow?”

“I will let you know,” Anne replied. “You’re dismissed. I need to make a couple of phone calls.”

Moira made a speedy retreat and shut the door behind her as Anne reached for her phone. She dialed a number and listened to the phone ring for a few seconds before the person she was calling picked up.

“Joachim? The agent accepted.”


	3. Prologue Part Three

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We are FINALLY getting started with the game's storyline. Took me long enough.

The Snowfall Kingdom wasn’t bad, all things considered. It was cold, damp, and snowy, but the landscape was pretty enough to look at. The covered carriage Moira rode in glided over the snow, and she was trying to take a nap while being buried under a pile of furs and blankets. Her guide Noah had barely said three words to her the entire time he’d been escorting her, which was fine. She needed some sleep.

“We’re almost there, Detective,” Noah announced.

Moira gave a start and made a noise of agreement, though he probably didn’t hear it. The whole journey here so far had been disorienting: flying to Switzerland at the crack of dawn the day after her meeting with Anne, meeting Anne’s counterpart Joachim for the first time at the airport, and then him driving her from the airport to the middle of fuck-all nowhere and informing her that a man named Noah was waiting on the other side of the barrier to take her to the Snowfall Kingdom. This had all taken place in less than 24 hours. She didn’t even _sneeze_ upon crossing into the fairytale realms, which was something new.

Maybe she was too tired. Maybe she was used to the magic that permeated the atmosphere. She’d have to ask Cara about that later.

The carriage eventually came to a stop as night fell and the full moon rose in the sky. The jostling and swaying of the coach woke Moira, and she unwrapped herself from her cocoon as Noah unlaced the sturdy clothing covering the opening to the rear of the carriage so she could get out. As she gingerly climbed down, Noah lit a large lantern and set it down on the ground next to an open suitcase.

The landscape was nothing more than sheer cliffs coated with layers of ice and snow. The wind howled around Moira, stinging what little skin she had exposed. She walked over to the lantern as her eyes adjusted to the semi-darkness. The closer to the lantern she got, the more she could see two significant obstacles: an elegantly covered stone door with a circular indent, and a cliff with rocky debris in front of it.

“Is this as far as we go?” she called out to Noah, her voice muffled by the balaclava she wore.

“I can’t go any further because of the rocks,” he replied nonchalantly. “You’re on your own.”

Well, shit.

Moira crouched down to investigate the suitcase. There wasn’t much inside: a spare blanket, a missing person’s poster for the kidnapped children… and a large pack of dynamite. If she could use this… she grabbed it and held it aloft.

“Can I take this?” she asked.

Noah nodded. Moira stood up straight and walked up to the cliff. The rocky debris turned out to be a cracked boulder, though the placement was odd. It looked like it had been deliberately placed there, and the passage of time—and accumulating snow and ice—had merely covered it until it looked like a part of the cliff from a distance. She ran a hand along its surface, trying to find a crevice to fit the dynamite in. This was possibly the only way she’d be able to get into the Snowfall Kingdom, and she didn’t want to screw this up. If the dynamite failed, she hoped Noah brought something she could climb with.

After a few minutes of searching, her hand fell into a hole in the rubble and she wedged the dynamite in. She went back to Noah.

“Do you have a match? Or something else that be set on fire? I don’t want to waste your lantern,” she asked.

“Are you going to use that dynamite?” he inquired.

“Do you have any other ideas on how to get into the Snowfall Kingdom?” Moira replied.

Noah’s mouth pressed to a thin line, but he nodded.

“Wait here.”

Moira watched as he expertly moved the horse and carriage back a much farther distance, then returned for the lantern and suitcase. As he did, he handed her a box of matches.

“Be careful.”

Moira nodded, then walked back to the cliff. She felt along the rock for the dynamite, then struck a match and set the fuse alight. The instant she saw the flame light the fuse, she turned around and ran for her life. The next few seconds seemed to drag on for eternity as she waited for the explosion and urged herself to run _faster_ as she covered her ears—

A violent explosion rocked her. Ice chunks and rocks were blown everywhere, dotting the snow with debris. Moira tripped over her feet and fell face-first into the snow, heart pounding as she wheezed and tried to catch her breath. Noah ran over to her and helped her up, bodily lifting her to her feet.

“Are you all right?” he asked.

It was a moment before Moira could respond. She inhaled deeply and nodded. The portion of the balaclava covering her nose and mouth were disgustingly damp. At least she could still hear, all things considered. Any closer and she would’ve had to end her investigation because of her shattered ear drums.

“I’m-I’m fine,” she finally said. She eased herself out of Noah’s grasp. “I’m going to see what’s on the other side.”

Without waiting for a response, she turned around and went towards the remains of the boulder. She carefully climbed over the rubble and tumbled onto the other side of the cliff face. Smoke from the dynamite obscured her vision, and she coughed at the smell, fanning her hand to remove the smoke.

Something growled in response, and Moira froze. She could barely make out the shape of a hulking beast barely ten feet away. Before she could consider moving, whatever growled at her straightened to its full terrifying height and bounded away.

 _Was… was that the monster I’d been warned about?_ Moira thought. She shook her head. _No. Maybe. Hopefully not._

The rest of the smoke disappeared with the monster’s departure, and the scene before Moira was chaotic. A covered carriage and a trio of heavily armored knights had been ambushed by a volley of arrows, and something else had dispatched the knights. Something _powerful_ , because whoever hadn’t been hit by the arrows lay in the snow like broken dolls.

 _Was this done by the monster I saw?_ Moira thought. She crept closer and saw the emblem on the carriage.

A crowned frog.

 _I guess James didn’t take too kindly to Snow White leaving him._ Moira grimaced. She felt a twinge of pity for the woman. _Snow White must have been forced to retaliate like this to stop James from trying to take her back to his kingdom._

One of the fallen knights lay on top of some sort of document. Moira crouched down to look. A thick layer of snow and ice covered the knight’s armor, though it couldn’t hide the deep scratch marks on the back of his breastplate. How long ago had this ambush taken place? Ice and snow did not accumulate this quickly without some substantial amount of time passing.

 _Well, James_ was _immortal. Is Snow White immortal too?_ Moira thought. Just how many immortals had she encountered so far?

Amazingly, the document was still intact and legible. Probably magic at work. Moira gently eased it from underneath the knight’s body and turned it over to read the text. Unfortunately, even the bright moonlight couldn’t help her decipher the words. The most she could make out was that this was a decree to… capture the Snow Queen. The date it was signed was…

“This was signed _centuries_ ago. Holy shit.” Moira said quietly. “Fuck, I really am dealing with a pack of immortals!”

She threw the document to the ground and backed away. As she did, her foot brushed against something solid and she looked down. A slim little book lay in the snow near the fallen knight, the gold filigree of book’s title twinkling in the moonlight. She picked it up and brushed the snow from the hard leather cover.

“Rise of the Snow Queen…” she read aloud.

On closer inspection, the book wasn’t complete. Someone had neatly cut this book down the binding like slicing a loaf of bread, but Moira couldn’t find the rest of the missing pieces. Worse, the text inside was barely readable. Stranger still, the book portion did _not_ have the same sad crusted-snow-and-ice look everything else around it did. It was almost as if someone or something had recently taken the book out of its library and deliberately damaged it. And left it for her to find.

 _Maybe it was that monster I saw?_ Moira questioned. _But what monster carries a book around?_

She carefully stored the book in a coat pocket and went to investigate the carriage. The pennants of James’s kingdom lay in frozen tatters. The solid wood of the carriage had been smashed and splintered beyond repair, trapping or impaling any knights that could have been traveling inside. Weapons and shields had either been tossed or scattered. And there were… things that looked—

_Oh no._

—broken on purpose.

 _I knew this would happen. I_ knew _this would happen._

Moira grabbed things that stood out starkly from the debris; an easy task because they looked like they hadn’t been exposed to this hellishly cold atmosphere for centuries. When she was done, she held a circular emblem in her hands. It had a heraldic emblem painted on it, with a large ruby positioned in the center. This had to be the key to that door she saw, how _else_ could she get inside the Snowfall Kingdom’s domain?

She put the emblem in a separate coat pocket, then turned around and climbed over the rock pile. Although she tried to keep her footing, she slipped midway down and tumbled gracelessly into the snow. At least she was far enough from the lantern that Noah didn’t see it. Moira picked herself up and dusted the snow off, and then walked over to the door, pushing the emblem into the indent. The door rumbled and shook, and the raised stone designs that had been carved into the door were pulled back into the stone as the door fell into the frozen earth. A new blast of cold air hit Moira, and she covered her face and turned away.

“Detective, wait!” Noah called out. Moira turned to face him as he jogged up to her.

“Before you go, could I ask you for a favor?” he asked. He pulled out a photo from his coat pocket and gave it to her. “This is my son Kai. He disappeared in the snowstorm that took the other children. If you see him…”

Moira gingerly took the photograph. Kai had thick brown hair and a sweet smiling face, he couldn’t be more than six or seven years old. What struck her though was that the photo was a Polaroid. Interesting. Maybe a past agent had left a camera behind, and someone here in the fairytale realm had figured out how to make their own version of it. She turned her attention back to Noah.

“If I see him, I’ll rescue him,” she replied.

“Please bring him back to me,” Noah pleaded. He gestured to his carriage. “I’ll stay here and wait. If you’re in trouble, come find me.”

Moira could only nod silently. Did he know about the missing agents? If she died, how long would he wait? They were both dressed appropriately for the extreme cold, and Noah’s horse was stocky and had its thick winter coat, but people and animals could only be outside in it for so long before they would have to seek shelter.

“I… I will,” she finally said. But it felt more like an after-thought, and she turned away from Noah.

The entrance to the Snowfall Kingdom had been carved out and through the cliff face crudely, but it was wide enough for two armored, mounted knights to enter side-by-side comfortably. On the other side was a wide expanse of snow and ice, and she felt a pang of disappointment. What had she been expecting, a spring garden?

_Actually, a spring garden sounds nice. I’m going to be sick of this winter weather before long._

Moira took a deep breath and carefully stowed Kai’s picture away. Once she stepped through that door, there was no guarantee she would return. What would greet her on the other side, the monster? Snow White herself? The reality of Anne’s words was setting in now.

_Whatever happens, happens._

She walked forward, head held high and heart hammering in her chest.


End file.
